Professor Richard Caplan asks: how effective is UN peacekeeping?

Richard Caplan has written a blog article (1 June) for the website of EU-CIVCAP (a Horizon 2020 project led out of the University of Bristol’s Global Insecurities Centre) entitled ‘How effective is UN peacekeeping?’.

Referring to recent analysis he has done with Anke Hoeffler of CSAE he writes, “In our study, we find little evidence that the presence of UNPKOs has a stabilising effect on peace overall. However, we find that UNPKOs have a positive effect on peace duration when the conflict ends in a settlement.”

He adds, “'This indicates that UNPKOs may be less about keeping the peace than preparing for peace."